Thomas Christian

Thomas Christian's father is notable for having translated the Second Book of Kings from the Bible into the Manx language for Bishop Mark Hildesley, published in 1771.

An Ecclesiastical Court document concerning Christian in 1790, states: ... having quitted the retirement enjoined him by his Lordship, and returned to the scene of his unfortunate connections, has this day promised to repair to Kirk Bride and submit himself to the guidance of his brother-in-law, the Rev.

[6] One possibly questionable source has it that he died "due to an overdose of a medicine – he having insisted on drinking the whole bottle instead of the prescribed dose.

Pargys Caillit was called a translation of Milton's poem on its title page, but due to the significant cuts, changes and additions made by Christian, it is better understood as a retelling of the story.

The most significant addition comes in the history of the creation, where over 350 lines are given to the subject by Christian, and in the stories of Behemoth and Leviathan, which were expanded by descriptions taken from the Book of Job.

[3] The continued high estimation of the work is shown by an extensive quote concerning Pargys Caillit in an 1871 guidebook to the Isle of Man, 75 years after the poem's first publication: According to a well-known Manx scholar all the finest passages have been translated, and all the ‘nonsense’ has been suppressed.

The Manx translation is far shoo-pay-re-er – partickerly those parts of the pome tellin’ about the fights between the divvels and the angels.

[14] ‘Cre haghyrt mee roish yn ullick shoh chaih’ was collected in A. W. Moore's 1891 book, Carvalyn Gailckagh ('Manx Carols'),[15] as was 'Roish my row yn seihll shoh crooit' (Before this world was created), which was subsequently published by Mr. P. W. Caine, in the "Manx Examiner" in July 1915.

The poem is a condensed version of Paradise Lost and contains many lines which were to reappear in a very similar form in Pargys Caillit.